


By Any Other Name

by EgoDominusTuus



Series: Like Good Soldiers [13]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Drug Abuse, Gen, Ghouls, M/M, Old Friends, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Psychic Wolves, Psychic Wolves For Lupercalia, That Thing Not Lust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 04:56:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5992351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EgoDominusTuus/pseuds/EgoDominusTuus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>We were just two leaders bending each other's ears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By Any Other Name

  Ezio let me know that Good ol’ Jack was in town before the auburn haired charmer ever knocked on my door. We had history, me and the leader of the Gunners - Hell, I was one of the only people who was actually privy to that information. To say that he and I had a sordid past would have been…

  Accurate.

  But still, there was nothing but mutual respect. I understood that he ruled with fear, but fairness. And he understood that I was more than willing to stab a man for crossing any of the rules that Goodneighbor had in place. Some could say that he and I had a foot on the same ground, kind of kindred spirits, if you would. So it was really no wonder that he came to me with his problems… and from what Ezio was projecting in my mind, Jack was a whole mess of problems.

  I could tell that my wolf hadn’t been wrong as he stepped through the door. I recognized Adonis, bigger and even more bristly than I remembered. He was anxious, pacing, like he’d caught a scent that he wanted to run down. What shocked me was that Jack had the  _ exact same look  _ in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to crawl straight out of my office. Instead, he closed the door with a slam behind him and stalked over to the couch. He dropped with the grace of a big cat, and Adonis crawled up beside him with no worry for decorum. The muddied-white wolf laid his head on Jack’s lap, his scruff still sticking up and his impatience clear.

  “Good to see you, Jack. Let’s not bother with formalities, eh?” 

  “C’mon, John. When have we ever done that?” Jack’s voice was still all tease, but I could sense some other emotion riding his coattails. My mouth turned into a frown, and I sat on the couch across from him. My hands came to my knees, and I leaned forward to catch a good look at his face. 

  If I wasn’t mistaken, Jack was in  _ pain.  _ If you’d asked me before if that was possible, I would have told you know - I always considered Jack on the edge of being some kind of monster, but the loveable kind. But now…

  He looked more human than a lot of people I’d seen in the Commonwealth. “What’s wrong, Jack?” My voice, gravely and low, was full of concern. He scoffed at it, his brows knitting together and his hand stroking through his brother’s fur.

  “Nothing’s wrong, Hancock. It’s just come to my attention that you’re harboring a fugitive from the Gunner’s ranks.” Cool, clipped, controlled - backed with an emotion that I couldn’t quite read. I instantly knew who Jack was talking about… and then  _ everything clicked.  _

   MacCready hadn’t really told me all of his past, though we’d talked quite a few times since that first night I’d bought him a drink. I’d pretty much gathered the gist of what had happened to him from the broken bits and pieces, and the way that his face fell into lines of pain where he left his story blank.

  He’d been with the Gunners, and it seemed like whatever comfort and protection he’d had there had abandoned him. Winlock and Barnes had already come sniffing around once, and I’d had them thrown out of the city with a warning - they were Jack’s boys, or I would have had them killed. MacCready’s sister-wolf, Lady, had been fat with pups and ready to drop them when he’d gotten here. It had all made sense then… and it made even more sense now. The kid always looked haunted, like he was missing something - and that  _ same fuckin’ look _ was staring at me through Jack’s eyes now.

_ Damn it, and I’d been sweet on the kid, too.  _ It was just a flight of fancy, of course. Even though I’d wanted him, something had always told me that he wasn’t mine, or anyone else’s for that matter, to have. Not really. 

  And now I knew why. 

  “You talking about that blonde who keeps sitting in the back of The Third Rail?” I pointed the name out carefully, because I knew that Jack would be listening. “Sniper, real good lookin’? Pretty wolf, too.”

  Ezio perked his head up and Adonis let out a low growl. Jack bristled above him. 

  “His name is Robert Joseph MacCready, and he ran away from--” he cut himself off quickly, and just as smoothly transitioned. “From the Gunners. We’ve heard that he’s running freelance on our territory. You know I can’t have that.”

   Jack was just as swift with punishment as I was, and I wondered for a minute if I was reading him wrong. Was he here to kill Mac instead? No - I wasn’t wrong. I knew I wasn’t wrong. 

   “So, what are you going to do?”

   “I’m not going to do a fucking thing.” Jack let out a small sigh, his eyes narrowing. “But you’re going to keep the Gunners out of Goodneighbor from now on.” His mouth twisted, “Tell him that he should watch out. You’re going to look out for him, John.” He bit off each word like it pained him to say it, and I widened my eyes.

  “Don’t suppose you’d wanna go talk to him you--”

  “ _ No! _ ” He cut me off before I could even finish the suggestion. “I don’t have time for runaways.” The only thing that told me there was more to that than he was letting on was the way that his eyes cut to the side, his fingers clenching for just a flash in Adonis’ fur. “And clearly, he doesn’t want to  _ see me _ .” Ah, there it was. That pain. I wondered what Jack would think if he knew  _ why _ Mac didn’t want to see him. It seemed clear that he had no idea that the boy had been hassled by Jack’s men - I knew he was a busy man. He was a damn fine and responsible leader… he couldn’t watch out for MacCready all the time. 

   “So, you’re asking me for a favor, Jack?” 

   Lilac eyes flashed up, full of danger and anger and something underneath that he could ignore but I could  _ clearly  _  see was love. “I’m telling you keep an eye on him.” 

_ Always the noble one, Hancock. By the people, for the people. Well, damn. _

__ Ezio looked up at me, his golden eyes a gentle comfort that eventually our time would come. I shifted my gaze to Jack and let a lewd smile cross my features. 

  “Sure thing, Jackie-o. I’ll take  _ care of him.  _ Me’n Ezio both, if you catch my drift. I think he and Lady will be coming in, in about half an hour or so? Maybe you should get  _ gone _ before then.” As soon as I said the words, I could almost see his vision bleeding red. He actually stood from the couch, booting Adonis from his lap, his pretty face twisting into a snarl--

   “Don’t you fucking touch--” 

   “If you don’t, I will.” I cut him off curtly, and I saw the way his eyes flared. I stood up to meet him, and my hand came to his shoulder. “Jack, go talk to him. And then come talk to me. I’ll fill in the blanks.”

   He paused beneath me, that anger twisting away into something altogether different. Altogether  _ alien _ for the Jack I knew. On some level, I think that he was afraid. On some level, I  _ knew  _ that he loved MacCready. 

  “I can’t, what if he--” He twisted again, pulling away from my hand. His eyes narrowed, and he stalked back to the couch to make apologies to his brother. “What do you know, John?”

   “What  _ don’t _ I know, Jack?” I countered with a soft taunt and a salacious smile. “Go talk to him.” If I’d have had an eyebrow, I would have arched it for dramatic effect, “Or do you want me to?”

   He glared at me, and he actually shook on the spot. I’d  _ never  _ seen this much emotion from Jack, and I’d seen the man in the throes of lust. Whatever nerve MacCready had struck, I don’t think Jack even realized he still possessed it. I hadn’t known he had, until he walked into my office like a wolf separated from its pack. 

   “Fine.” Sulking, pissed off, furious and glorious all at once. Jack really was a fucking piece of art. “But then I’ll be back here, and you damn well better give me some answers, John.” 

   “You got it, Jackie-boy. I’ll be waiting.” But I wouldn’t be holding my breath for him to show up again tonight. If I knew Jack at all, I knew that he’d be talking with his mouth all right… but he wouldn’t be saying a goddamn word. Poor MacCready wouldn’t know what hit him.

   Poor Jack didn’t know what had hit him either, but I wasn’t going to spell it out for him. He stalked to the door. “Adonis, come!” Sharp, clipped, his shoulders straight and his posture every bit the suave, in control Gunner Leader that I knew he was. He paused with his hand on the doorknob, and he didn’t turn when he spoke. 

  “Thanks, John.” Oh, he  _ had  _ to be in love if he was going to go so far as to  _ thank me _ .

   “You’re welcome, Jack.” But he was already gone. 

    Now, why did I think that he was going to come back with even more questions than when he stormed in? I went back to the couch, my fingers finding Ezio’s warm from to stroke through. The wolf looked up at me, and I gave a shrug. “Love makes you do weird things, brother. Apparently even if you’re a man like Jack.” 


End file.
